A proposal to apply for budget authorization for FEMA reimbursable expenses related to COVID-19 moved forward at Monday night’s Unified Government Economic Development and Finance Committee meeting.
In November, the federal government extended the FEMA reimbursement period through April 1, according to UG officials. Previously, it had been set to expire in December.
The UG will be able to apply for federal FEMA grants to assist it with its recovery efforts and vaccination efforts, said Kathleen von Achen, chief financial officer for the UG. The expenses are reimbursed at 100 percent. That will allow the UG to use county taxpayer funds and ARPA (American Rescue Plan) funding it previously received for other programs.
Von Achen said there is a total $5.76 million request made in three different applications. The first application was submitted in 2021 and the UG already has received some funds from it, she said. The next two applications will be submitted soon, she added. They need budget authority to spend the funds so they can get reimbursed later for them, she said.
Wesley McKain, a manager with the Health Department, said in answer to a question from Commissioner Gayle Townsend that the only vaccination site currently open through the Health Department is the Kmart site at 78th and State. He said they are paying $11,000 a month on rent for that site. They also paid rent on the Best Buy site at 106th, now closed. They did not pay rent on the Kansas National Guard Armory site on 18th and Ridge, as they were allowed to use it without charge. Currently the Armory has a COVID testing site run by the state of Kansas.
According to McKain, major cost drivers for COVID-19 expenses include testing, contact tracing, communications, community engagement, social services and support, and vaccinations. Only contact tracing is not eligible for reimbursement by FEMA, he said.
In other action, the EDF Committee voted to end the community improvement district for the Turner Logistics Center project and repeal an ordinance concerning minimum building improvements of 1 million square feet constructed.
According to Katherine Carttar, UG economic development director, this is something to celebrate because the Turner Logistics Center has exceeded its completion goal by four years.
She said when the UG structured the industrial revenue bonds for the project, they wanted to make sure the local government would be paid back for its portion of the upfront investment in the new I-70 interchange at the Turner Diagonal. The project met its minimum construction goals quickly, she said, and the CID is not needed.